The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 505 Is this New Year even worth celebrating?

Emperor Qianxi wondered if there was something wrong with his ears!
Otherwise, how could a dignified emperor like him experience auditory hallucinations during the Lunar New Year?
The Governor-General of Liangjiang, Ge Li, on whom he had placed great hopes, was actually killed by mutinous soldiers!

Upon hearing this news, his first reaction was that someone must be playing a joke on him.

In his opinion, this joke was not funny at all!
But when he looked up, everyone around him was pale-faced, dumbfounded, and shocked.
"What did you say? What happened to Ge Li?" The Eighth Prince smashed the wine pot in his hand with a crash, spilling wine all over the ground.

However, at this moment, the Eighth Prince could no longer care about anything else!

He rushed to the eunuch who had brought the news and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Say it again, what happened to Ge Li?"

The little eunuch was so frightened his legs went weak, and he secretly groaned inwardly:
Why did this unlucky job have to fall on my head?!
If he didn't report to Emperor Qianxi in time, he would be doomed.

However, during the New Year, if you don't have any sense of propriety and report something that would upset the Emperor, you might also be doomed!

But before the Emperor, he could only steel himself and stammer a reply:

"Reporting to Prince Lian, it was Governor-General Ge Li of Liangjiang... who was stabbed to death by the mutinous soldiers."

Upon hearing this, the Eighth Prince's eyes turned red:

"You're talking nonsense! Ge Li sent a letter just a few days ago saying everything was fine, how could he be dead? You're just spouting rubbish!"

The little eunuch shrank his neck and dared not utter a sound, but knelt on the ground holding up the memorial with both hands.

Emperor Qianxi was a seasoned veteran; the moment the Eighth Prince's wine pot shattered, he sobered up.

He glanced at the Eighth Prince, who was in a state of emotional turmoil, and said in a deep voice, "Yun Si, calm down!"

Emperor Qianxi did not intend to pursue the matter of the Eighth Prince's disrespectful behavior before the emperor.

Because he understood perfectly why his son was reacting that way.

With Ge Li dead, Lao Ba's fundraising plan is likely to fall through completely, no wonder he's anxious.

Upon hearing Emperor Qianxi's words, the Eighth Prince suppressed his anger and stepped aside, but felt as if a piece of his heart had been hollowed out.

Ge Li's death was a bolt from the blue for him.

Everything that was going so well collapsed with Ge Li's death.

Ge Li, Ge Li, how could you just disappear like that?
Shen Ye, standing to the side, was also filled with doubt.

In his view, Ge Li was, after all, a governor. Even if he couldn't raise eight million taels of silver, he shouldn't have been stabbed by his own soldiers, right?
This is too outrageous!

Is there something else that I don’t know?
However, at this moment, his face was very calm, even somewhat solemn.

If someone were to accidentally laugh out loud at this moment, Emperor Qianxi would surely see it as gloating.

They could easily incur the wrath of the Qianxi Emperor.

"Bring up the memorials," Emperor Qianxi's voice rang out again.

Following Emperor Qianxi's instructions, the vast Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to come alive once again.

Liang Jiugong took the memorial and handed it to Emperor Qianxi, and the people below began to murmur among themselves.

Although most members of the imperial family did not have real power, they were still very clear about the importance of the Governor-General of Liangjiang.

Who is Ge Li?

"It's really unlucky that the Governor-General of Liangjiang was killed by mutinous soldiers."

"This trip to Jiangnan is going to be troublesome!"

……

Emperor Qianxi had no interest in the discussions among his relatives; his mind was entirely focused on this memorial.

As he read the contents of the memorial, Emperor Qianxi's face grew increasingly gloomy.

This memorial describes the process of Ge Li's execution.

The process was not complicated. Ge Li's embezzlement of the military pay of the Kongjiang Navy resulted in dissatisfaction among many officers and soldiers in the navy.

Taking advantage of his inspection of the navy, the group swarmed forward and killed Ge Li and his entourage.

That wasn't all; these mutinous soldiers also took the opportunity to attack Yingtian Prefecture.

If it weren't for General Yingtian's quick thinking and resourcefulness, these mutinous soldiers would have captured Yingtian Prefecture.

Even so, they still managed to capture two counties in Yingtian Prefecture, and after looting them, they burned both counties to the ground...

Now, these rebel soldiers, pursued from all sides in Jiangnan, have fled into Poyang Lake.

The number of soldiers and civilians who were taken hostage totaled over ten thousand.

In addition to reporting Ge Li's death to Emperor Qianxi, the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang also requested the court to send a large army to suppress the bandits.

Otherwise, if these rebel armies were to develop, the entire Jiangnan region would likely suffer.

After reading this, Emperor Qianxi's face darkened.

Embezzling rations and pay!

Ge Li is practically asking for death!

With military action imminent in the Northwest, if problems arise in the Jiangnan region, it will be a major disaster!
Should we even celebrate the New Year?!
If the imperial court no longer had Jiangnan, a major source of tax revenue...

"Father, how exactly did Ge Li die?"

Although the Eighth Prince knew it was inappropriate to disturb Emperor Qianxi at this time, Ge Li was, after all, his most important subordinate.

With his death, the Eighth Prince's plans came to naught.

Emperor Qianxi coldly said, "Ge Li deserves to die!"

"He embezzled military pay, which instigated a mutiny. He deserved to die!"

"But the imperial navy controlling the Yangtze River has been more than half destroyed because of this incident."

"Damn it!"

At this point, he threw the memorial in his hand directly to the Eighth Prince and said, "Take a look for yourself. This is the capable person you value!" The Eighth Prince took it and his face turned pale.

Emperor Qianxi took a deep breath and turned to Liang Jiugong, instructing, "Summon Tong Guowei, Zhang Ying, Li Guangdi, and others to an audience."

"In addition, the six ministers have also come."

At this point, he glanced at Shen Ye and said, "Your Highness, you will be in charge of hosting this clan banquet. Make sure everyone has a good time."

As he spoke, Emperor Qianxi strode out of the hall.

The killing of the Governor-General of Liangjiang by mutinous soldiers was a momentous event for the imperial court.

With the emperor gone, who would dare to truly "enjoy themselves"?
The members of the imperial clan looked at each other, their eyes occasionally glancing at the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince's face turned pale. How dare Ge Li embezzle military pay?

This... this can't be because I asked him to raise those eight million taels.

It was during the process of raising money that Ge Li had the idea to focus his attention on the military pay of the naval officers and soldiers.

If this conjecture is true, then he...

The Eighth Prince became increasingly panicked as he thought about it, and he wanted to go to Emperor Qianxi to explain the matter.

But at this time, did Emperor Qianxi have time to see him?

Just as he was at a loss and feeling extremely uneasy, Shen Ye calmly raised his glass and said:
"Dear relatives, although there has been an unexpected turn of events today, we must still drink."

"Come, let me toast everyone three times. The court is currently in a turbulent period. We will hold a banquet to make up for it when the storm has passed."

Everyone quickly raised their glasses, but in their hearts they were all thinking: With Ge Li's death, Jiangnan is likely to undergo a major upheaval...

Emperor Qianxi left in a hurry, and by then most people had lost their appetite for drinking.

Shen Ye's words were exactly what they wanted to hear.

After seeing off the relatives, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and others gathered around Shen Ye.

The Third Prince said sarcastically, "Your Highness, I told you Ge Li was unreliable, didn't I?"

"They can't get anything done except talk big."

"I never expected that he would be someone who is more trouble than he's worth."

"Well, that's it! They actually dared to embezzle the military pay of the Kongjiang Navy. They're incredibly audacious and have a death wish!"

"I remember some time ago, someone recommended Ge Li, saying that he was shrewd and capable, a pillar of the country."

The Third Prince did not name names, but it was clearly aimed at the Eighth Prince.

Almost everyone present knew about the relationship between Ge Li and the Eighth Prince.

The memorial recommending Ge Li was also submitted by someone sent by the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince was too preoccupied with what to do next to argue.

Now that Ge Li is gone, is it possible to borrow the eight million taels of silver?

If he couldn't borrow the money, how could he explain it to his father, Emperor Qianxi?

After all, Dad isn't someone who's easily fooled.

Upon hearing the Third Prince's words, Shen Ye simply smiled and said, "Major matters of the court are for the Emperor to decide."

"We must be careful in our actions these days, and not upset Father."

Just as the princes were talking, Tong Guowei and the others, having received the news, hurriedly arrived at the study in Qianqing Palace.

Everyone was happily celebrating the New Year when Emperor Qianxi pulled them aside after they had only drunk half of the wine.

Therefore, among the crowd, a few were still slightly intoxicated.

Emperor Qianxi ignored these concerns. After recounting the events, he addressed the crowd, asking, "How should the matter in Jiangnan be handled?"

On his way there, Tong Guowei began to think about how to deal with the situation.

He no longer cares about the Eighth Prince borrowing money from Jiangnan!

With this incident and Ge Li's death, the possibility of borrowing eight million taels of silver is almost zero.

He was thinking about how to remedy the situation:

How can we pin this on Ge Li and prevent the Eighth Prince from being implicated...?

Therefore, when he heard Emperor Qianxi's question, he said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, whether Ge Li is guilty or not is a matter for further investigation in my opinion."

"The most important thing now is to quickly appoint a governor-general of Liangjiang in order to stabilize the situation in Liangjiang."

"Once we stabilize the two rivers region, wiping out those rebel forces will be just around the corner."

Tong Guowei's words pleased Emperor Qianxi greatly, who said:
Who do you think is suitable to serve as the Governor-General of Liangjiang?

Liangjiang was the richest region in the country, and the Governor-General of Liangjiang was a position second only to the Governor-General of Zhili. If someone became the Governor-General of Liangjiang, it was almost like taking a step towards becoming a Grand Secretary.

Tong Guowei said, “Your Majesty, I believe that Cen Youguang, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, is both a scholar and a warrior, and has also served in Liangjiang. If he were to become the Governor-General of Liangjiang, he would surely be able to stabilize the people’s hearts and quell the rebellion.”

Upon hearing Tong Guowei's recommendation, Emperor Qianxi remained silent, instead turning his gaze to Zhang Ying and asking, "Zhang Ying, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I agree with Chancellor Tong's opinion. However, to quell these rebels, we must act quickly, so we need to mobilize troops from various places."

Zhang Ying said with utmost solemnity, "Jiangnan is a major source of tax revenue for the imperial court. If unrest breaks out, the Ministry of Revenue's revenue will drop drastically next year. I urge Your Majesty to consider this carefully."

When the topic of troop deployment from various regions came up, most people fell silent, because deploying troops would require a large amount of supplies and provisions.

Where did the provisions and pay come from?
Everyone lowered their heads and remained silent, but in their hearts they were all calculating: Is this year even going to be a holiday?

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(End of this chapter)